PSNI civilian staff set for 24-hour industrial action

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Police civilian staff in Northern Ireland are set to take part in strike action over an ongoing failure to increase danger money payments.

The workers are expected to stage a 24-hour walk out from 0001 on July 11 to 0001 on July 12.

It will come just before tens of thousands of people take to the streets for the annual Orange Order parades on July 12.

The trade union NIPSA said its members “overwhelmingly voted for strike action” over their Revised Environmental Allowance (REA).

Police civilian staff are calling for the delivery of an uplift to their £580 annual REA, known as danger money allowance, that was committed to five years ago.

In comparison, PSNI officers currently receive just under £4,000 annually in acknowledgement of the ongoing threat they face.

Civilian staff, who are seeking to have their allowance increased to around £1,000, are involved in roles such as emergency call handling and scenes of crime work.

NIPSA said 91% voted for strike action and 96% voted for action short of strike.

The union said the civilian workers feel they are under threat and undervalued, and are working in an “effectively created two-tier workforce” due to the disparities in pay and terms and conditions.

Action short of strike is set to start at the beginning of July.

PSNI temporary assistant chief constable Melanie Jones said they want to assure the public that they will have resources in place to keep the public safe.

“Planning is under way to mitigate any risk in critical functions in the event of staff absences as a result of this industrial action,” she said.

“I want to reassure the public that we will have the resources in place to allow us to keep people safe.”